Funding Announced at the Invitation to Collaboration Awards 2017
The Arts Council has awarded €65,200 to Limerick City and County Council to deliver a unique and ambitious youth programme called the Autonomy Project.
Limerick will also benefit from €20,000 to commission an Indecon report (with Kildare, Leitrim and Fingal County Councils) which represents a strategic intention by the local authority partners to examine their work practices and better understand their changing roles, inform future policy development and meet future needs.
The Arts Council confirmed the award as part of their ‘Invitation to Collaboration’ scheme aimed at Local Authorities, which promotes unique collaborations through working better together and promoting access to and engagement with the arts.
The Autonomy Project is a multi-disciplinary youth programme, led by Lisa McLoughlin which focuses on tolerance and action through art.
It is responding to a global resurgence in art and youth activism providing an important platform to explore how young people can express themselves in issues such as gender orientation, activism and social justice.
The project will be delivered through existing groups such as Limerick Youth Theatre, Dance Limerick, Music Generation and GOSHH culminating with week-long performance / installation and symposium with international contributors on art and autonomy in UL led by Dr Niamh Nic Ghabhann.
Director of the Arts Council, Orlaith McBride said: “We recently put a call out to local authorities across the country looking for ambitious ways of collaborating and engaging communities in arts projects. I am delighted to confirm that Limerick City and County Council was successful in two awards and I’m confident this funding will help foster a unique collaboration between young and established artists towards finding ways to explore and express their views on the topical issues that affect them. The role of UL in supporting a symposium in 2018 on the topic will be of national interest.”
Welcoming the award, Limerick City and County Council Arts Officer Sheila Deegan said; “We were delighted that our applications were successful, it shows the confidence and energy in the arts in Limerick and that we’re delivering on the objectives of our cultural strategy.”